Dents after applying Danish Oil

[ScottGoddard]

I have noticed some dents in a walnut piece after building up the layers of Daniel oil. Of course, they were there before i just didn't notice them. Any advice on how to remove them? would the iron trick work?

 

[Droogs]

It should do as it's heat not steam from the iron that causes the fibres to swell as it turns any water inside to steam. would put some plain brown paper down first though

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Not tried Daniel Oil ........ by the bye ....
I doubt it would work because as said it's the moisture that swells the dent - and you have no way of getting moisture under the oil.

 

[Droogs]

the moisture is already in the cells of the wood, as it is heated it expands and pop the cells back into their proper shape - so to speak. when they cool the membranes stay as they are as that is the original shape they wanted to be basically

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, but it's usual to wet the dent before steaming.

 

[CHJ]

Localised heating without removing the polymerised oil skin may well result in white blooming from released wood moisture under the oil finish and I doubt heating without moistening the local wood area would swell the fibres enough to reconstitute the structure.

How obvious are the marks, just to you because you know they are there or obvious to anyone that looks at it in daily use?

 

[custard]

Any post finishing solution will have downsides. The best answer is to minutely inspect the surface under a raking light before applying the finish, and correct any problems then. I appreciate that's not what you want to hear, but that's woodworking reality.

Either chalk this one down to experience, or if the dents are really that objectionable, then strip of the finish and start again. Recently applied DO will lift straight off with a card scraper so it's not too big a job. If you're reconciled to full stripping then (and only then) is it worth trying steaming out the dents as a local repair, but you should only do it on the principle of "nothing to lose".

 

[profchris]

On musical instruments it's quite common to steam out single dents after finishing, because the player dinged the thing and wants it fixed.

Damp cloth and soldering iron, so you're only heating the dent and not it's surrounds.

With most finishes there us blooming, so then it's careful scraping with a razor blade and the spot refinishing. Then careful sanding/polishing to blend in the repair.

This works with Tru-Oil so it should with Danish oil.

However, for lots of dents on a freshly finished flat surface, I'd just scrape back and redo it.